Painful
by Krylancelo
Summary: Risuka goes to see his father. He makes a startling discovery about Soubi that could have lead to his brother's death. Could his father have the answers, or will Risuka's memories just fade? Chapter 2.
1. Chapter 1

**Painful** Chapter 1: Memories 

Plain, boring meadows rolled by and Risuka Aoyagi sighed. Kaasan had somewhat come to her senses in the last few months, thus, dragging a nearly unwilling young boy out to the middle of the countryside. His kaasan had calmed down enough to have a decent conversation about Risuka and had decided to take him to see his tousan.  
Risuka looked at his cell phone and wondered if he should have called Soubi before he left. It was going to be a full week without any real contact with "normal" people, as Risuka liked to put it.  
His otousan had always been somewhat distant and cold. Even to Seimei.  
It was somewhat like the opposite of how kaasan was to Risuka. Tousan was the same when it came to Seimei, he didn't even go to his funeral. The brown car ran quietly through the darkening streets. Small country roads greeted it with dust and sharp turns that sent Risuka nearly toppling onto his kaasan.

After nearly two more hours of driving, his kaasan softly said, "Koko desu." Were here.

Risuka stiffly got out of his seat and stood looking at the quaint two story house that was rimmed in dark colors. "Will… Tousan be happy to see me?" He asked, hesitation marring his question.

"Maybe. Let's go." She whispered, and she went on ahead of him to knock on the door.

A middle aged man with fake cat ears answered.  
"Miyou… Long time since I've laid eyes on you. Have you brought him as well?" Asked the brown haired man who had dark colored eyes. Wide glasses adorned his face, and his hair was somewhat messy from work.  
"Yes. It has been too long." She murmured then turned around to address the boy.  
"Your staying here." Was all she whispered and before Risuka could fully comprehend it, she was driving off.

"Kaasan…." He whispered, feeling somewhat lost. He then turned to face his father. His features were similar but he couldn't really remember him. There were few memories of him in his collection. Most were of Soubi and his own friends.

"Standing and staring won't make this any easier. Come on inside, Risuka-chan." His tousan said effortlessly as he nodded, beckoning Risuka in.  
The house that Risuka saw seemed foreign to him. After kaasan and tousan had divorced, Risuka had not set foot in his father's new house.  
The windows were dimmed by dark solar windows framed in large, black shutters. The furniture was, of course, all white. Their old house had pictures of bland, white furniture that reminded him of his psychologist.  
Stainless steel appliances adorned the kitchen, and when something didn't come in steel, Aoygi-san got it in black.  
His son slowly walked through the kitchen, noticing the steel toaster and black cookware that looked somewhat scorched. He watched as his son sat at the kitchen table, with it's white chairs and black tablecloth.  
"School's been alright?" Jyoukin asked as he regarded his favorite son with a hint of amusement. Jyoukin stood in the doorway that changed the kitchen to the living room.

Risuka looked up from his musings and nodded. Jyoukin's amusement stopped, "Kotae!" Answer me. He said sternly, and Risuka's eyes widened.  
"It's been fine. I-I made some friends." Risuka said softly, his eyes back to the tabletop.

"Friends, huh? Did you make memories with them? Any pictures?" He asked, his voice a bit softer than before.

Risuka lightly blushed, "Y-yes! Hai!" Here, he said, as he pulled from his bag a nice multitude of pictures. Aoygi-san walked over to the boy and held out his hand. Risuka gave the twenty plus pictures his tousan, who smiled when he saw the first one.

Risuka was with a cute girl with pinkish hair, and a cute outfit.  
"An elementary student? Your friend"  
"Hai! Yuiko." Risuka answered.  
The next one. "Two toned young man, that's pretty rare"  
"Yayoi-san. He's my friend too."

Who's this nice woman he wondered. "That's sensei." Risuka said pointing to the brown haired woman with ears.  
"Your sensei, I wonder if there fake." He said smiling. "Do you know?"

"W-what? No!" Risuka said, feeling surprise.

The next picture sent Jyoukin for a whirl. His eyes narrowed and his voice became angry. "Soubi." He gritted out as he clutched the picture then to Risuka's horror, ripped it in two.  
"Stay. Away. From. Him!" Jyoukin said angrily, as he took the rest of the photos and ripped the to shreds before Risuka could even speak.  
Yuiko's and Yayoi's were the only ones that remained on the floor.


	2. A Puzzle

Ritsuka looked out of a small window, on of the few that dotted the walls of his new room. He head been sent up there for the remainder of the afternoon while his father had cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and started dinner.

"It's always better for me to cook alone. " Ritsuka remembered his father saying, and Ritsuka decided that with the scorched cookware as evidence, he should remember to stay out.

The young thirteen year old sighed then sat down in a white chair.

He looked down at his remaining pictures then placed them in his bag for safekeeping.

"I've know Soubi for nearly a year and he's protected me. Scared me, lied to me, told me he loved me, and held me when I was in pain. I can't just forget about him. Semei… what should I do? Did Tousan know about you and Soubi?" Ritsuka asked the cool night air.

He knew he wouldn't get answerers but he couldn't help wondering what his brother would have said.

A loud clang was heard from downstairs and Ritsuka reflectively flinched.

"Ritsuka-chan! Time to eat!" He heard his tousan yell, only loud enough so that it could be heard from downstairs.

Ritsuka slowly left his room and descended the stairs. He couldn't help but feel dread.

Jyoukin looked up from setting the table when his young son came in.

"We're having tempura tonight You like that, right?" He asked.

He was surprised to see his son stop short and have a pained look on his face.

"Hey, calm down, I'm a good cook! You'll love it!" Jyoukin said trying to get the bad feeling he had at his son's face out of his mind. The boy shouldn't look so… scared.

"Come now, sit." He said, indicating the chair across from his.

Ritsuka went and slowly sat down. Jyoukin noticed the boy's long tail tightly wrapped around the leg of the chair.

That's a sign of fear, he thought, feeling strange. Why?

He started to eat his meal then after a few minutes looked up to see how his son was enjoying it.

Dark eyes narrowed when he saw his son's plate was untouched.

"Ritsuka, I can hear your stomach grumbling from over here. Why aren't you eating?" He asked, not quite sure what was going on in his son's head.

"My… favorite?" Ritsuka asked uncertainly.

Jyoukin frowned. "Yes. Well, when you were eight. I guess I should have asked, since it probably changed. I know! We'll have whatever you want for dinner tomorrow to make up for my mind slip. But anyways, it taste good. Eat son, your pretty thin. Your kaasan not feeding you properly?" He asked, wondering why his son looked down when he mentioned his ex wife.

Ritsuka slowly took a bite from his food, and prepared for it to taste horrible and make him sick. After a few seconds of waiting, his ears shot up and his eyes widened.

"It's ok." Jyoukin heard his son whisper, and he smiled.

"I don't really burn the food, just the cookware. You like it alright?" He asked, a slow smile forming on his face.

He saw Ritsuka blink in an owlish kind of way, then nod. The rest of dinner was silent as Ritsuka actually enjoyed a meal with a member of his family.

After dinner, Jyoukin Ayogi cleaned up the mess from dinner and let the burned items soak a bit in the sink.

Ritsuka looked lost at what to do next, so his tousan decided they should play a game.

"Kids still like games at his age." He muttered under his breath as he went in search of something fun to play.

"Ritsuka." He softly called out and he smiled when his son walked into the living room.

"We'll have to go shop for some fun things later, but how about a puzzle?" Jyoukin asked.

He almost changed his mind when he saw Ritsuka's stupefied face.

"Um, yeah, a puzzle should be fun. I used to play them when I was a kid." He said again, then placed it down on the table in the living room.

An hour passed by in play, then the clock chimed 9:30.

"Go to bed." Was all Jyoukin said as he cleaned up the puzzle and left out what was already finished.

"We'll do some things tomorrow, alright?" He said as Ritsuka ascended the stairs.


End file.
